The lighted boat in a Christmas boat parade in Southern California is one of our favorites. The colors of red and blue are draped in the air in a shape that looks so magical in the night. In the video above, the yacht plays the Bananarama song, "Venus." Note: We have these videos streamed for high speed cable or fiberoptic transmission. Unfortunately, the viewing experience will not work for everyone. You can try refreshing the page to see if the video plays better, should you have trouble watching.

Goddess on the mountain top burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love and Venus was her name

She's got it, Yeah, baby, she's got it
I'm your Venus, I'm your fire at your desire

Her weapons were her crystal eyes making every man a man
Black as the dark night she was, got what no-one else had


She's got it, Yeah, baby, she's got it
I'm your Venus, I'm your fire at your desire

In the warm Southern California evening after it is dark, the boats enter the harbors and channels of California's waterways to light up the season with a variety of holiday boat parades. While the parades only last a few days in most cities, you can still enjoy the lighted boats if you wander by the harbor and see some of them take a spin (or cruise through the waterways.) The light displays often suck up large sums of energy but most marine equipment stores sell special boat lights for the unique needs of the yachts, boats and ships.

A year ago when some friends launched a gondola cruise ride in a Southern California harbor, I was invited to ride with them, their family and friends as they steered the perimeter of a Christmas boat parade. They were investigating to see if it was something they would do participate in during future years. They ran their Christmas lights off a large battery supply, and it failed to produce any juice half-way through the channels.

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